Actress Naya Rivera, best known as the snarky Santana Lopez on „Glee,“ is presumed dead after she disappeared from a rented boat on a Southern California…
Actress Naya Rivera, best known as the snarky Santana Lopez on „Glee,“ is presumed dead after she disappeared from a rented boat on a Southern California lake Wednesday, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators believe Rivera drowned in what appears to be a tragic accident, according to a statement released Thursday by Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Eric Buschow.
Rivera’s son told investigators that he and his mother had been swimming in the lake, and he got back in the boat, but Rivera did not, according to Buschow. The child is in the company of family.
By about 12 p.m. EDT Thursday, the effort to find Rivera had transitioned to a search and recovery effort. About 100 people were taking part in operations to find her body.
Sheriff’s officials said there was no evidence of foul play or any indication of a suicide. Authorities said Rivera had been to the lake in the past.
The physical search for Rivera was suspended overnight Wednesday for safety reasons and resumed Thursday morning, said Deputy Chris Dyer, a spokesman for the agency. Approximately 50 sheriff’s personnel, along with a helicopter, boat crews, divers, and unmanned aerial vehicles searched the lake for five hours Wednesday evening.
By 11:30 a.m. Thursday, four dive boats were scouring the northern shoreline and two helicopters hovered above in an area of Lake Piru called Juan Fernandez Spring, with divers experiencing less than one foot of visibility in the water in daylight.
The difficult conditions have made the recovery operation a very slow process, according to Buschow, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is assisting in the search with divers and sonar equipment.
A staging area on the lake’s north end had been created for search and rescue crews. Drones from the Sheriff’s Office were also being readied for the effort.
